Biography

Phillip L. Hammack is Professor and Chair of Psychology and Director of the Sexual and Gender Diversity Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Hammack is an expert on gender and sexual identity diversity and diversity in intimate relationships. Trained at the interdisciplinary Committee on Human Development at the University of Chicago, Hammack has been a leader in the study of adolescent identity development in context. His early work with Israeli and Palestinian adolescents highlighted the role of culture, narrative, and politics in identity development. Hammack’s more recent work has focused on gender and sexual diversity among adolescents and adults in the United States and continues his theoretical and methodological emphasis on narrative and culture. Hammack is author of Narrative and the Politics of Identity: The Cultural Psychology of Israeli and Palestinian Youth (2011, Oxford) and editor of The Oxford Handbook of Social Psychology and Social Justice (2018, Oxford).

Website: www.philliphammack.com
Twitter: @philhammack

The New Queer Teenager: Authenticity in Gender and Sexual Identity Development in the Twenty-First Century

Session Type: Invited Talk

Abstract

The twenty-first century has seen a seismic shift in how we think about sexuality and gender. From cultural acceptance and legal recognition of same-sex relationships to heightened visibility of transgender and nonbinary gender identities, possibilities to realize authenticity in gender and sexual identity are perhaps greater than ever before. How are contemporary adolescents experiencing this new cultural context, and to what extent are they driving this revolution? I explore these questions by first outlining the historical arc of our century to understand how and why the landscape of gender and sexuality has shifted so dramatically toward an embrace of diversity. I then interrogate our current science of gender and sexual identity development among contemporary adolescents, arguing for a paradigm shift that is more inclusive of the full range of diverse experiences of gender and sexuality.

Sub Unit

• Invited Program

Moderator

• Paul Poteat, Boston College

Speaker

• Phillip L. Hammack, University of California - Santa Cruz

Introducer

• Sei Eun Kim, Columbia University